'16 cruise missiles' to destroy bunker

The Scotsman ^ | March 28, 2003 | ALLAN HALL

[MadIvan]

Tomahawk cruise missile

TARGETING Saddam Hussein in his presidential bunker will require a concerted attack using 16 cruise missiles directed to the same spot, its designer said yesterday.

Karl Esser claimed the Iraqi dictator was "100 per cent safe" in the steel and concrete structure buried 100 metres below Baghdad.

He said: "I am absolutely certain that Saddam Hussein will not be taken out by a rocket attack on his main palace in Baghdad as long as he remains underground in the bunker I designed."

Mr Esser, 45, of Munich, whose grandmother built the bunker which protected Hitler from attacks, said he was proud of his work, which may prevent the coalition forces’ stated aim of "decapitating" the Iraqi leadership.

The £60 million bunker was built 20 years ago, under the direction of Mr Esser and an Austrian architect, Lorenzo Buffalo, working for Boswau and Knauer of Germany.

Mr Esser said: "I was asked as I had a lot of experience from my family. My grandmother was responsible for Hitler’s bunker under the Berlin Reich chancellery and I have continued the family traditions.

"I built atom bomb-proof bunkers and was then asked to work on the bunker in Iraq."

He said he met Saddam on a number of occasions when construction got under way in the early 1980’s, including one three-hour session where the two discussed in detail the plans for the bunker.

He recalled: "If you see him, he doesn't make much of an impression. He looks like an Arab tax collector or banker.

"But when he speaks, you realise there is more to the man than meets the eye.

"Those around make it really clear that he is a man to be reckoned with. You could hear a needle drop when he walks into the room."

Mr Esser added: "If they want to get at Saddam, they would have to level the palace completely, and get rid of the debris. Then they would need to hit the site with their 80-kilo Tomahawks 16 times at the same spot to get through. That’s 16 times.

"Then they need to know exactly where he is in the bunker. Is he on the toilet, or in bed?"

The Baghdad bunker is hidden beneath the swimming pool, walkways and parking areas of the presidential palace guest house.

The Iraqi leader is protected by 9ft-thick walls designed to withstand a nuclear explosion of the same scale as the bomb which destroyed Hiroshima at the end of the Second World War.

The accommodation includes a living room for Saddam and his family, with bathroom taps and finishings in gold.

A Munich-based company was commissioned to provide all the wood and fittings for the rooms - 1,800 square metres of it in all.

Saddam instructed the designers to fit out the bunker as a mini-palace - and to ensure that it reached NATO standards in terms of security.

The command room contains secure communications equipment, allowing access to strategic military information. And an escape tunnel under the Tigris river is protected by three-ton doors.

Mr Esser concluded that it would be almost impossible to penetrate.

"I’m pleased my bunker has proved up to the job," he added.

[MadIvan]

I will take great delight in seeing this fellow proved wrong.

Regards, Ivan

[MadIvan]

Bump!

[griffin]

His GRANDMOTHER built Hitler's bunker?

[Aeronaut]

I will take great delight in seeing this fellow proved wrong.

As would I. Good morning Ivan.

[Joe 6-pack]

"The Iraqi leader is protected by 9ft-thick walls designed to withstand a nuclear explosion of the same scale as the bomb which destroyed Hiroshima at the end of the Second World War."

In case the rest of the world hasn't noticed, U.S. weapons technology has progressed somewhat, since Hiroshima.

[Sunnyvale CA Eng.]

Kind of sounds like an insult - ah you're grandma built Hitler's bunker.
Oh yea, well your grandma...

[Quix]

WHAT WOULD HAPPEN

IF WE FOUND THE ESCAPE TUNNEL;

REMOVED THE HEAVY DOORS,

Then sent several successive devices up the tunnel?

Though I suppose we could just troop into the tunnel and set one device near the next door--and, if the right size--destroy the bunker without appreciable surface radiation???

How about a fuel air at the same point?

Supposedly we can find anything we are looking for 10 stories deep--the tunnel and doors ought to be a snap to find, it seems to me.

Any expert comments?

[American in Israel]

Nine million dollars to destroy a Eighty Million Dollar bunker. Good trade. I think we hit it with more than 16, in case he was on the toilet and his son was in the bed.

Bye Bye Sadam...

[sit-rep]

Escape tunnel is under the Tigris? Well, blow the tunnel and let the water do the "Flushing out"!

[Quix]

I would assume doors to keep out air-born chemical or bio arms would keep out water well enough for the pumps to keep up.

We might also need to crush all the air vents--which could take some time to find.

Seems to me, one way or another and with a huge umph, we'd need to shatter the inner main door of the tunnel.

I don't know if that door could be shattered carefully enough to then allow the next missle or bomb to enter more deeply into the suites proper, or not.

[freepersup]

I got a better idea, and a lot cheaper... Set up some massive industrial water pumps and flood the son of a bitch's bunker. Isn't the river just a stones throw from the complex ? It might take a bit of explosives to burrow through the ventilation system... on second thought- fill the ventilation system with concrete... kerosene... sulfuric acid... ? I'm open for options...

[Quix]

YOUR EXPERIENCED COMMENTS?

[Sunnyvale CA Eng.]

Sounds like quite a structure. Assuming we eventually get control of Baghdad there will be time pry open Saddam's playhouse. Destroying his military makes him powerless - that must be done first.

[freepersup]

Bump for... Calling all creative freepers, Uncle Sam needs your help in solving this puzzle. High degree of fulfillment promised.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Once the tunnels are full of water up to the doors, set off a bomb in each one. The water will carry the shock wave nicely.

[this_ol_patriot]

TARGETING Saddam Hussein in his presidential bunker will require a concerted attack using 16 cruise missiles directed to the same spot, its designer said yesterday.

We could lure Michael Moore and Scott Ritter to sit on the air intakes. Tell them if they sit there long enough Saddam will pop up and kiss their butt.

[bucephalus]

I have German relatives whose family built organs for hundreds of years. Their family was moved to Stettin in the 1770's by the order of Frederick the Great. Stettin was part of the land that the Poles stole from the Germans after the Russian stole some of their land, thus none of my relatives build organs these days.

Hitler's bunkermakers (and gasworks, too) are still in business. What the hell!

[Cincinatus]

Karl Esser claimed the Iraqi dictator was "100 per cent safe" in the steel and concrete structure buried 100 metres below Baghdad.

So is a corpse.

We'll be marching down the streets of Baghdad soon enough. Seal up the thing and place a stone at the entrance.

[HiTech RedNeck]

I wonder if he has a digger machine down there so he can tunnel out anywhere he wishes.

[Cincinatus]

Even is he does, it needs fuel to operate. Can't last forever.